Guns or butter ... why not both? Democrats ask

National security can also mean spending money at home, they say

RussBritt

DENVER (MarketWatch) -- Democrats have an ambitious agenda in this year's election: To stimulate the economy, cut taxes for middle-class families and seniors, increase spending on vital domestic issues, and not blow up the federal deficit.

But their plans to promote the general welfare could be hobbled by an equally urgent need: To protect America from its enemies, foreign and domestic.

'There are just so many things that need to be fixed. If we don't start funding the Veterans Administration, if we don't start taking care of the veterans, the cost to America will be so significantly great in the future. Shame on us.'
Gen. Scott Gration, USAF (retired), Obama miltary policy advisor

It's an age-old dilemma: Should the government provide guns or butter?

Ideally, of course, it could do both. And perhaps if Sen. Barack Obama does end the Iraq war, the nation could enjoy a small peace dividend that could pay for some of the things his party wants to do.

The choice between guns or butter is a false one; it's really a matter of priorities, said Larry Mishel, president of the labor-funded Economic Policy Institute.

Perhaps this is especially so in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mishel paraphrased Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., as saying: "On Sept. 10, there was no money for anything. On Sept. 12, there was money for everything."

The Democrats are in a quandary this year. They don't want to be saddled again as the tax-and-spend party. They don't want to suggest any weakness in the face of the threats from terrorists, rogue nations and a re-emergent Russia. And they have eight years of pent-up domestic demands they'd like to address.

One way out is to show that government can make the country safer by spending money at home. The list of Republican malfeasance begins with Hurricane Katrina and ends with the treatment of the veterans who've fought the battles in Iraq and Afghanistan, Democrats say.

If we can't handle natural disasters, we won't be able to handle terror attacks, this line of reasoning goes. Spending on levees, highways and bridges can pay double dividends. If we can't take care of the vets who've already served, we won't be able to retain the fighting men and women who'll have to serve in the future.

Veterans

Democrats will make supporting the troops an issue against Sen. John McCain, who has been thought to be bullet-proof on national security issues. Democrats will remind everyone that McCain, R-Ariz., opposed the veterans' bill and legislation to give troops more time outside the combat zone before ordered back in.

The state of veterans' affairs is in disarray, according to Scott Gration, a retired major general in the U.S. Air Force and military policy adviser to Obama, D-Ill. Gration flew 274 combat missions in Iraq and says the nation's military is strained after it has depleted its National Guard, reservists and active-duty personnel.

"In my view right now, we just need to have a pause," Gration said. "We are really up against the edge, in my view. We're having a hard time with retention. We're having a hard time meeting our recruiting goals."

"We're having the highest stress in terms of being manifested in not only the depression, but in suicide rates. There are just so many things that need to be fixed," Gration said. "If we don't start funding the Veterans Administration, if we don't start taking care of the veterans, the cost to America will be so significantly great in the future. Shame on us."

Katrina

Perhaps the one region in the U.S. where the infrastructure is most in need of help is in New Orleans, still struggling to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina three years ago. Roughly two-thirds of the $120 billion allocated to help the Gulf Coast recover has been held up.

As a result, the city's infrastructure -- decimated when three-fourths of New Orleans was underwater after its system of levees broke -- is in tatters, said Scott Myers-Lipton, co-founder of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign. He pointed out that a group of firefighters manning a station in the city is still working out of a Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer that was found to be leaking toxic materials.

Neither Democrats nor Republicans have properly addressed the issue, he said. Proposed legislation that is designed to insure local workers are used to help recover from Katrina met with resistance from Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he said.

Myers-Lipton's group then bombarded Pelosi's office with phone calls until they could get the California congresswoman to start moving the legislation through. He and others have asked Obama to visit the region on Aug. 29, the third anniversary of Katrina's landfall, but he declined. That's the day after Obama delivers his convention-concluding speech at Invesco Field in Denver.

Republican nominee McCain has visited the region but only sporadically, Myers-Lipton said. He said there are no debates of right vs. left in Louisiana.

"You talk to folks, and they're just mad," Myers-Lipton said. "Both sides have dropped the ball."

The region could start rebuilding its infrastructure if the federal government could allocate a small amount to help with rebuilding, about $5 billion a year. Those funds could be found in some of the monies now headed toward Iraq. But much of the $80 billion yet to find its way into the Gulf region needs to be released, via a presidential executive order.

"I was just so shocked. I can't believe this is America," Myers-Lipton said.

One of the speed bumps that New Orleans faces is that it's fallen out of public view, said Stephen Bradberry, national campaign coordinator for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

One reason is that it's not seen as pertinent to the rest of the country, Bradberry said.

"Neither party has looked at this as a national issue," Bradberry said. "They see it more as a regional issue."

Not the only problem

Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., insists infrastructure became a national issue when the I-35 bridge collapsed in Minneapolis last year. He says it could happen anywhere.

"Here in Colorado, we are facing a huge crisis," he said.

Some regions aren't waiting for help, though. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano was asked whether the federal support for infrastructure has been enough.

"The answer is no, we need more," she said.

Napolitano is hoping Obama will come through on promises to push initiatives for infrastructure, but she is looking to state sources to fund new efforts.

"We're also hopeful that we will have on the ballot this fall a transportation initiative that would add a penny to the sales tax, with all of that revenue going toward highways or to rail," Napolitano said.

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